Mbeki warns ANC is in serious trouble as South Africa faces deepening crisis
Former President Thabo Mbeki has questioned the ANC’s leadership, asking how they are going to come out of the crisis.
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Former President Thabo Mbeki has delivered a blunt assessment of the ANC, warning that the governing party and the country it has led for three decades are facing serious problems with no clear solution in sight.
Mbeki made the remarks while delivering a tribute at the funeral of veteran anti-apartheid activist and ANC leader Titus Mafolo in Johannesburg on Friday.
Mafolo, 69, died last week following a short illness.
“Titus has left us too early, because the ANC is in problems, serious problems. South Africa is in serious problems. I don't know about yourselves, but me, I don't know where South Africa will be tomorrow,” Mbeki said.
Mafolo was a respected ANC member, businessman and a key political adviser to Mbeki during his presidency.
Since his death, he has been praised as a principled leader who played an important role in shaping post-apartheid South Africa.
Addressing mourners, Mbeki questioned the direction of the country amid growing social and economic distress.
“Where are we going? How are we going to solve all of these problems, whether it's crime or the economy, unemployment, this and that and the other,” he said.
After 30 years in power, the ANC faces mounting criticism from citizens over widespread corruption, failing public institutions, high unemployment, rising crime and a struggling economy.
Public frustration has increasingly been expressed through service delivery protests, declining voter turnout and electoral losses for the party.
Mbeki said South Africa is poorer without Mafolo’s leadership at a time when the country is grappling with deep systemic challenges created under ANC governance.
He urged public servants and political leaders to honour Mafolo’s legacy through ethical leadership and a renewed commitment to nation-building.
“We need Titus Mafolo to be with us, to say, to get out of this problem; this is what we need to do.”
kamogelo.moichela@iol.co.za
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